A number of locking mechanisms are used to deter children from gaining access to the contents of containers, such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and other items that could be harmful or undesirable for children to consume or ingest. But the locking mechanism must still allow adults and the elderly to open the containers. One type of locking mechanism uses a cap which a person must squeeze to release the lock, and then turn the cap on the container while still squeezing. These squeeze-and-lock mechanisms require strong fingers and good coordination between the squeezing and turning, either of which makes it difficult for seniors to use caps with this type of locking mechanism.
Some containers use a locking mechanism that requires the user to visually align arrows or other indicia and then snap off the container's cap or lid. This type of locking mechanism requires good vision to align the arrows or other indicia, and sufficient finger strength and coordination to force the cap off the container. Each of those also makes it difficult for seniors to use containers and caps with this type of locking mechanism.
Some containers use caps which are pushed down and turned to release a plurality of locks located around the periphery of the cap or the opening to the container. These locking mechanisms do not require the finger strength and coordination of the other locking mechanisms. But they do require strength to push down and release the locking mechanism. These locking mechanisms typically use a resilient disk in the cap that rests against a lip surrounding the opening to the container. When the cap is pushed down against the container lip, the resilient disk is compressed against the lip to allow enough movement to release the lock when the cap is turned. But the cap must be forced against the entire periphery of the lip in order to ensure all of the locking mechanisms around the periphery of the opening are released, and that requires more force than is comfortable or desirable for some seniors. There is thus a need for an improved push and-turn lock mechanism.
These prior art locking containers and caps are also complex and/or costly to make. The caps were often made of two pieces snapped together or bonded together, or the mating parts of the container and cap required complex molding or expensive after-molding-assembly. This is especially so with prescription vials where the cap is made of two parts and the second part is a resilient inner piece that is compressed against the cap to provide the resilient locking force. There is thus a need for a container and cap that are simpler to manufacture, and that is preferably cheaper to make.